Librarian for Religion

Evelyn Ehrlich
Librarian for Religion
New York University
Bobst Library, Mezzanine
70 Washington Square So.
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2568
E-mail:  evelyn.ehrlich@nyu.edu

NYU Links

• The Studio for Digital Projects and Research
  Contains many resources for Religion.
• NYU Department of Religious Studies

Related Subject Guides

• European History
• West European Studies (Contemporary)
• Middle East Studies
• Philosophy
• Classics

Research Assistance

• Interlibrary Loan
• Finding Doctoral Dissertations
  Includes NYU, U.S., Canadian, and foreign dissertations
• Bibliography and Footnote Style Guide

Class Websites

• MAP World Cultures -- Ancient Israel

Internet Links

• Union Theological Seminary (Columbia University)
  Union Theological Seminary is an independent, nondenominational graduate school of theology, located in Morningside Heights.
  Library site: Burke Library
  Library catalog: CLIO
• The Spiritual Guide to NY
  Information on many religions, interfaith networks, holistic centers, and teachings.
• Religious Studies: Comprehensive Site
  By Gene Thursby, professor at University of Florida's Religious Studies department. Contains information about religious studies programs, academic resources, religions around the world, and textual materials.

Bibliographies

• Adams, Charles J., ed. A Reader's Guide to the Great Religions. 2nd ed. New York: Free Press, 1977.
  Bobst REF1 Z7833 .A35 1977 (1965 edition located in the stacks)
  Contains articles by scholars which survey prominent works about the world's major religions.
• Conze, Edward. Buddhist Scriptures: A Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1982.
  Bobst Z7862 .C66 1982
  Guide to the editions, translations, and studies of the Buddhist scriptures.
• De Bary, William & A. Embree, eds. A Guide to Oriental Classics. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1989.
  Bobst REF1 Z7046 .G8 1989
  Annotated list of English translations of classics in philosophy, religion and literature from the Indian, Chinese and Japanese traditions, with lists of secondary works, and topics for discussion regarding each classic work.
• Holland, Barron. Popular Hinduism and Hindu Mythology: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1979.
  Bobst Z7835 .B8 H64
  Nearly 3,500 items. Does not include works on Hinduism beyond the confines of peninsular India.
• Kennedy, James. Library Research Guide to Religion and Theology. 2nd rev. ed. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1984.
  Bobst REF1 BL41 .K45 1984
  Contains simple, basic guidelines for researching and writing essays on religion, as well as a short bibliography focusing on Christian and secular sources.
• Mitchell, Robert. Comprehensive Bibliography of Modern African Religious Movements. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1966.
  Bobst Z7757.A2 M5
  Lists references on non-Islamic modern African religious movements.
• Ofori, Patrick. Black African Traditional Religions and Philosophy. Nendeln: KTO Press, 1975.
  Bobst Z7834.A3 034
  Covers all the major ethnic groups of black Africa south of the Sahara.
• Rai, Priya Muhar. Sikhism and the Sikhs: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Greenwood, 1989.
  Bobst Z7835.S64 R34 1989
  Covers over 1,150 books and articles written in English since 1965.
• Reynolds, Frank. Guide to Buddhist Religion. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1981.
  Bobst Z7860 .R48
  Classed arrangement; annotations; author title subject indexes. Includes both books and articles.
• Schwade, Arcadio. Shinto Bibliography in Western Languages. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986.
  Bobst Z7835.S5 S39
  Lists over 2,000 monographs and articles. Topical index.
• Thompson, Laurence. Chinese Religion in Western Languages: A Comprehensive and Classified Bibliography. Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 1985.
  Bobst Z7757.C6 T55 1985
  Covers Chinese Buddhism as well as Chinese religion exclusive of Buddhism.
• Wilson, John & T. Slavens. Research Guide to Religious Studies. Chicago: American Library Assn., 1982.
  Bobst REF1 BL41 .W5 1982
  A nonsectarian bibliography. Part one contains text and bibliographies for various fields of religious scholarship; part two has lists of reference works. Similar work which focuses more on Christian sources: Reference Works for Theological Research, 1981 (Bobst REF1 Z7751 .K46 1981).
• Yu, David. Guide to Chinese Religion. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985.
  Bobst Z7757.C6 Y8 1985
  Deals with religions indigenous to China; excludes Buddhism.

Dictionaries

• Brandon, S.G.F., ed. Dictionary of Comparative Religion. London: W. & Nicolson; New York: Scribner, 1970.
  Bobst REF1 BL31 .D54
  Comprehensive, scholarly treatment of the significant concepts, terms, symbols, people, practices, etc., of the world's religions; bibliography for each entry. Several similar works are also available; the most recent is: Sutherland, Stewart, et al. The World's Religions, 1988 (Bobst REF1 & Bobst BL80.2 .W68 1988)
• Dictionary of Buddhism. New York: Scribner's, 1972.
  Bobst REF1 BL1403 .D5
  Entries have been extracted from Brandon's Dictionary of comparative religion (see above).
• Dictionary of Native American Mythology. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 1992.
  Bobst REF1 E98.R3 G46 1992
  Dictionary with crossed-referenced entries, bibliography, and index by tribe.
• Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion. Boston: Shambhala, 1989.
  Bobst REF1 BL1005 .L4813
  Over 4,000 definitions and biographical sketches. Contains a Ch'an Zen lineage chart showing the transmission of the Buddhist tradition.
• Encyclopedia of Native American Religions: An Introduction. Updated Edition. New York: Facts on File, 2000.
  Bobst REF1 E98.R3 H73 2000
  Illustrated encyclopedia with cross-references, bibliography, and a subject index.
• al Faruqi, Isma'il R. A., ed. Historical Atlas of the Religions of the World. New York: Macmillan, 1974.
  Bobst REF1 BL80.2 .F28
  Maps, chronologies, summaries of the histories, beliefs, practices of major religions; index and bibliographies.
• Feuerstein, Georg. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga. New York: Paragon House, 1990.
  Bobst REF1 B132.Y6 F46
  Defines yogic terms, concepts, sages, history, and literature.
• Guirand, Felix, ed. New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. Rev. ed. London: Hamlyn, 1968.
  Bobst REF1 BL311 .N43 1968
  Short scholarly entries, with global scope; illustrated, with index.
• Harvey, Van Austin. A Handbook of Theological Terms. New York: Macmillan, 1964.
  Bobst REF1 BR95 .H32
  Explains significant Christian concepts for the general reader.
• Neil, William. Concise Dictionary of Religious Quotations. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.
  Bobst REF1 PN6084.R3 N4
  Primarily from the Bible and Christian writers; subject (keyword) and source indexes.
• O'Brien, Thomas, ed. Corpus Dictionary of Western Churches. Washington, DC: Corpus Publications, 1970.
  Bobst REF1 BR95 .O3
  Short articles about history, beliefs and practices of churches in Western Europe and North America.
• Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 3rd edition. London: Oxford University Press, 1997.
  Bobst REF1 BR95 .O8 1997
  Thousands of entries, most with bibliographies; covage is very broad.
• Rice, Edward. Eastern Definitions. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978.
  Bobst BL31 .R52
  Guide to terms from all the major and some minor Eastern religions.
• Stutley, Margaret. Dictionary of Hinduism, Its Mythology, Folklore and Development 1500 B.C. - A.D. 1500. London: Routledge, 1977.
  Bobst REF1 BL1105 .S78x
  Most entries are brief, although some run to several columns
• Werblowsky, Raphael J. and Geoffrey Wigoder, eds. The encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion. New rev. ed. New York: Adama Books, 1986.
  Bobst REF1 BM50 .W45 1986
  Focuses on the religious dimensions of Judaism.

Encyclopedias

• Eliade, Mircea, ed. in chief. Encyclopedia of Religion. 16 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
  Bobst REF1 BL31 .E46 1987
  Comprehensive entries, each with bibliography, written from the academic perspective by many scholars. A significant--and the only recent--general encyclopedia of religion.
• Encyclopedia Judaica, Jerusalem. Encyclopaedia Judaica. 16 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1972.
  Bobst REF1 DS102.8 .E39
  The most recent of several works of this kind; 25,000 articles, most with bibliographies; a thorough index.
• Gibb, H. A. R., et al., eds. Encyclopaedia of Islam. New ed. 11 vols. completed to date, covering A - WALI. Leiden: Brill; London: Luzac, 1960 (vol.1) up to 2000 (vol.11) and continuing.
  Bobst REF1 BP40 .E52
  Electronic Access: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/find_articles_title.html
  Scholarly articles, each with bibliography, by over 300 contributors. The 1913-1938 version of this work, the only such complete work in English, is also available in Bobst REF1.
• Lippy, Charles & P. Williams, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Religious Experience: Studies of Traditions and Movements. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 1988.
  Bobst REF1 BL2525 .E53 1988
  Articles about the beliefs and history of many groups in American religion; comprehensive survey.
• McDonald, William J., ed. in chief. New Catholic Encyclopedia. 15 volumes and 1 supplement. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967-1974.
  Bobst REF1 BX841 .N44
  17,000 articles, many with bibliographies, by Catholic and non-Catholic scholars. While emphasizing Church-related topics, especially in the English-speaking world, it has a broad scope, and a post-Vatican II outlook.
• Walker, George Benjamin. Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. 2 vols. New York: Praeger, 1968.
  Bobst REF1 BL1105 .W34
  Dictionary arrangement, plus a subject index, with bibliographies appended to some articles.

Periodicals and Indexes

• ATLA Religion Index 1949-Present
  Electronic Access http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
  The most comprehensive index for religious studies; covers hundreds of periodicals with a global scope but emphasizes Western religions.
• Index Islamicus. London: Mansell and East Grinstead, UK: Bowker-Saur, 1665 to date (Quarterly).
  Bobst REF1 Z3013 .B429
  Bobst REF1 Z3013 .L7
  Bobst REF1 Z3013 .L72
  Bobst REF1 Z3013 .L72n
  Bobst REF1 Z3013 .L722
  Bobst REF1 Z3013 .Q83n
• Index Islamicus 1906-2000
  Electronic Access http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
  A subject index, covering Islamic culture, politics and history, as well as religion.
• RAMBI Index to articles on Jewish studies. Jerusalem: Jewish National & University Library Press, 1969 to 1993 (Annual).
  Electronic Access http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
  1966-Present
  Indexes approximately 210 scholarly periodicals worldwide, in author and subject entries.
• The Philosopher's Index. Bowling Green: Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green State Univ. (Quarterly).
  Bobst REF1 Z7125 .P37 1967-1993
  Electronic Access http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
  1940-Present
  Covers approx. 430 periodicals in philosophy, some of which often have articles about religion, theology, ethics, or philosophy of religion; divided into subject, author (many with abstracts), and book review sections.
• Religious and theological abstracts. Myerstown: Theological Pub., 1958 (vol. 1) to date (Quarterly).
  Bobst REF1 BR1 .R4
  Cites and abstracts articles in approx. 220 periodicals, primarily Christian; organized by subject.

Current and Recent Information: Directories, Yearbooks, Biographies

• Singer, David, ed. American Jewish Year Book. New York: American Jewish Committee; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, Annual.
  Bobst REF1 E184.J5 A6 (Latest only in Bobst REF1; earlier editions are located in the stacks)
  Articles, organization directory, calendar, obituary, etc.
• Jacquet, Constant H., ed. Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. New York: National Council of Christian Churches in the U.S.A., Annual.
  Bobst REF1 BR513 .Y4 (Latest only in Bobst Ref1; earlier editions are located in the stacks)
  Detailed information on addresses and officeholders of Christian churches, periodicals, colleges and seminaries, service agencies, etc.
• Mead, Frank S. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. 8th ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985.
  Bobst REF1 BR516.5 .M38 1985
  Articles summarizing the history, structure and beliefs of American Christian churches. For statements of belief, see: Encyclopedia of American Religions: Religious Creeds (Bobst REF1 BT990 .E58 1988).
• The official Catholic directory. Wilmette: Kenedy & Sons, Annual.
  Bobst REF1 BX845 .C5 (Latest only)
  Complete list of clergy, churches, seminaries, officeholders, etc. in the U.S.
• Who's Who in Religion. 3rd ed. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1985.
  Bobst REF1 BR569 .W4n 1985
  Over 7000 brief biographical entries about North American religious leaders and professionals. Also see: Bowden, H. Dictionary of American Religious Biography, 1977 Bobst REF1 BL72 .B68.

Sacred Texts and Interpretive Aids

• Achtemeier, Paul J., gen ed. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1996.
  Bobst REF1 BS440 .H235 1996
  Informative articles by Christian and Jewish scholars; maps and illustrations. Alternate: New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, 1970 (Bobst REF1 BS440.G4).
• Aharoni, Y. & M. Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised 3rd Edition. New York: Macmillan, 1993.
  Bobst REF1 G2230 .A2 1993
  A few hundred chronologically arranged maps, covering ancient Jewish and early Christian periods.
• The Babylonian Talmud. trans. by Rabbi I. Epstein. 33 vols. London: Soncino, 1935.
  Bobst REF1 BM499.5 .E4 1935
  An English translation of the entire Babylonian Talmud. A new, contemporary translation and commentary is appearing in The Talmud: the Steinsaltz edition (1989-, 21 vols. Bobst REF1 BM499.5 .E4 1989).
• Bibles in English are located around BS190 in stacks on the fourth floor and in Bobst REF1. Some significant versions and translations:
  • The Holy Bible, originally 1611.
    Bobst REF1 BS185 1955 .N4
    The archaic but classic "King James Version" (KJV) translation.
  • New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version, Third Edition
    Bobst REF1 BS191.5 .A1 2001
    The newest version of the "Revised Standard Version," which was originally a 1952 revision of the KJV.
  • The New Jerusalem Bible
    Bobst REF1 BS195 .J4 1985
  • New English Bible
    Bobst REF1 BS192 .A1 1970
    The above two are contemporary, prominent translations from the original languages; usefully annotated.
• Bromley, G. W., ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979.
  Bobst REF1 BS440 .I6 1979
  A recent multi-volume work produced by Christian scholars. Also see the older but classic work: Buttrick, Geo., ed. The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 4 vols., 1962 (Bobst REF1 & Bobst BS440 .I63).
• Hecht, R. & N. Smart, eds. Sacred Texts of the World. New York: Crossroad, 1982.
  Bobst REF1 BL70 .S247 1982
  A carefully chosen anthology, consisting of short passages from the world's religious scriptures to illustrate beliefs, ethics, experiences, narratives, etc.
• Holtz, Barry, ed. Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts. New York: Summit Books, 1984.
  Bobst REF1 BM496.5 .B33 1984 (copies also located in the stacks)
  Ten scholars introduce the various bodies of Jewish works, including scripture, commentary, and philosophy. An introductory yet thorough single guide to a large body of works.
• Kohlenberger, John. The NRSV Concordance Unabridged. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991.
  Bobst REF1 BS425 .K645 1991
  Contains lists of words, and identifies all Bible passages in the New Revised Standard Version in which each word appears.
• Qur'ans in English are generally located around BP109 in Bobst REF1 and in the stacks on the fourth floor at the same call location. Among several translations are:
  • The Holy Quran: Text, Translation, and Commentary
    Bobst REF1 BP109 1983.
  • The Qur'an: The First American Version, 1985 Bobst BP109 .I85 1985.
  • The Quran and its Exegesis: Selected Texts with Classical and Modern Muslim Interpretations, trans. & ed. 1976
    Bobst BP130.45 .G313x.
  • Readings in the Quran [selections grouped by subject], 1988
    Bobst BP110 1988.
  • Sacred books of the East. 50 vols. New York: Dover, 1963-69.
    • Vols. 1 & 15. The Upanishads. Bobst BL1120.A3 M78
    • Vol. 49. Buddhist Mahayana Texts. Bobst BL1410 .B87 1969
• Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism. Totowa: Barnes & Noble, 1984.
  Bobst BL1571 .T44 1984
  Presents a selection of ancient texts, together with some modern texts which bear on Zoroastrianism.